Search begins for University of North Texas president

A Presidential Search Advisory Committee has been appointed to identify candidates to lead the University of North Texas, the flagship of the UNT System. The next president of UNT will succeed V. Lane Rawlins, who announced in early March that he will retire once a new president is appointed sometime in 2013.

The 17-member Presidential Search Advisory Committee, appointed by UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson, is composed of a broadly representative group of university stakeholders, including UNT students, alumni, faculty and staff members, administrators, a UNT System representative, and business and community leaders. The committee members are listed below.

"UNT has made significant progress under President Rawlins and this will be a very attractive opportunity for a leader who realizes our potential and has the skills to guide UNT to the next level," Chancellor Jackson said. "The Denton/Fort Worth/Dallas area has great potential to boost UNT's growth in quality, enrollment, research, and fundraising, and talented presidential candidates will see this as a unique opportunity."

UNT is the North Texas region's largest and most comprehensive university and the nation's 25th largest university. In the past few years, UNT has enrolled record numbers of freshman and doctoral students, increased the quality of its freshman class, and enhanced the strength and quality of its academic and research programs — all of which are important measures of UNT's development as a growing public research university. UNT is one of Texas' eight Emerging Research Universities and awards more than 8,500 degrees a year. UNT is among the state's top three universities for the number of bachelor's degrees awarded annually.

UNT has an NCAA Division I athletics program and outstanding facilities, which include Apogee Stadium — the nation's most environmentally sustainable college stadium. This year, the Mean Green landed an invitation to join Conference USA. Apogee Stadium is one of four new LEED-certified facilities opened at UNT in two years. Last year, the university unveiled a major new branding and advertising campaign that has established a higher profile for UNT across the region, state and nation.

The Presidential Search Advisory Committee will hold its inaugural meeting in April. The committee will advise Chancellor Jackson, who will make a recommendation to the UNT System Board of Regents. Appointment of UNT's 16th president is anticipated before the end of the year. President Rawlins will become President Emeritus upon retirement and will work on special projects to help UNT continue to make progress.